Saturday, June 28, 2014

Just dropped in to see what condition her condition’s in

At 24, married to a math professor she met at a gymclimbing wall, and who delighted in showing her previous stints in a formula.

Came the critical year and they drank champagne.So, she broke her string.

Took her GED instead. Then enrolled at the university in the Bachelor Program in Physics!

Most thought she’d wouldn’t last the semester. Graduated with honors.

Accepted as a PhD candidate.

Given a lab after that graduation...and twin girls.

Spent three fruitless years in research...but, somehow, was getting somewhere.

Gave a paper in Gutenberg, and Hiyakawa of Japan and Schiller of Germany lingered after it. They’d been experiencing the same frustrations in the same slippery area.

She had no such right, but invited them to join her at the lab.

The dean went along for the publicity value. But the presidentharbored numerous doubts. Had to be begged by her for budgetyear after year.

In the meantime, her husband received a prestigious, though minor, Math award, and they celebrated with colleagues in his jammedoffice. The little girls were very cute in insisting on handling the cleanup by themselves. Hardly big enough to lift the empty bottles.

Since it was so quirky, he knew his work would receive no further recognition. But hoped for hers and her partners’.

“That ship has sailed!” she announced to them after one long day.

“But our ship sails on!” Shiller countered, and Hiyakawa applauded.Those two continued to go at everything in a spirit of fun.

She, of fire.

The papers they wrote together were joked to be by Lady Macbethand her Song-and-Dance Men.

On her 44th birthday the Nobel shockingly called. Her team had been at 30 to 1 odds among the trade.

The celebration in the lab became a blast! With Drs Hiyakawa andSchiller dancing a flamenco as their wives clapped and shrieked.

In the strange quiet after, with all gone except the family, she exploded into tears. “The stupid...little broad...has done...growed up!”